********Blake POV********My blood ran cold as I stared hard at Nero and saw how daring his eyes were. It had that look that seemed to say he would rather die than let me in his head. That was a challenge that I was not willing to back down from. At first, I took it lightly, but soon, frustration started to well within me with each futile attempt to breach the walls of his mind. The intensity of his mental barriers was strong and impenetrable like steel. The harder I tried, my wolf snarled and paced within me, restless and agitated by our inability to reach Nero's thoughts."Why are you protecting her, Nero?" I demanded, my voice cutting through the tense air, my eyes narrowing as I studied him.Silent at first, Nero's jaw tightened, his gaze shifting between me and himself, his expression unreadable. "I have my reasons, Blake," he replied with such softness that made me melt at his tone for a moment, and the fact that he still had that effect on

As Harley led me down the hallway toward Jason's room, my mind raced with anticipation and dread. The weight of my decision pressed heavily upon me, but I pushed those thoughts aside, focusing on the task at hand.Finally reaching the door, Harley hesitated for a moment before turning to me, her eyes filled with uncertainty. "Here we are," she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper."Thanks," I said softly, offering her a small, reassuring smile. With a nod and a stiff smile, she turned and walked away, leaving me standing in front of the door to Jason's room.Taking a deep breath, I reached out and turned the handle, pushing the door open slowly. The room was dimly lit, shadows dancing across the walls, and my heart clenched at the sight of Scarlett sitting on the edge of the bed, her expression a mixture of confusion and concern."Blake?" she said, her voice soft with disbelief. "What are you doing here? And where's Nero?"Closing the door behind me, I stepped further into the r

I drove Scarlett back to my mansion in silence, the weight of what had transpired hanging heavy in the air between us. She was still visibly shaken from our confrontation, her normally confident demeanor replaced by a palpable sense of unease.As we neared the mansion, Scarlett finally broke the silence. "Blake, what happened between you and Nero for things to get this bad... It just doesn't make sense that he would...?" she asked, her voice tentative."Would what?""Nothing,""It seems like it's not in you guys' DNA to tell the truth... Hmm... But unlike you guys, I will answer you though. It all started when Blade, my grandfather, arrived in town, something the Nero knew yet kept from me to treat me as the fool he thinks I am." I began, my voice tinged with bitterness. "Mr. Blade is here?"I could tell she didn't mean to blurt it out, but the moment those words escaped her lips, her eyes grew huge and she quickly looked away, trying to compose herself.I rolled my eyes in annoyance

She took another deep breath as she let her words sink in. "Nero walked into the room, and I just assumed that I hurt Skylar's. But this is what happened. I went upstairs to find Loki but saw a wolf fleeing out of a room. I knew it wasn't one of ours, but its paw was leaving the bloody track as it ran, so I thought the wolf had gotten into a fight with one of our gammas and hurt it, so I entered the room to check, and that's when I saw your mother..." I scoffed, not wanting to believe her words because they shattered the foundation of everything I had believed about that night. "You expect me to believe that bullcrap?" "No. But this bullcrap is the truth. I know the smell of wolves from our pack, and that wolf that left the room was not ours... Your mother was not killed by any of our pack members. She was wounded and left to die by someone else." Scarlett snapped back.My eyes widened and rage swelled up inside me, the coldness of the shadows around me intensifying exponentially as